5.9/10
Senior Film Conservator

A definitive 5.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Hollywood Lights remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you like old, scrappy B-movies that feel like they were filmed during a lunch break, then sure, pull up a chair. If you need a tight script or, I don't know, a plot that makes sense, you're going to have a rough time. This isn't exactly high art. It's more like a postcard from a version of Hollywood that probably never existed in the first place.
It’s a classic case of "what if we just started filming and figured it out later." There’s a frantic energy to the whole thing that’s kind of endearing, even when it’s falling apart.
The whole premise hinges on these three women being so blinded by the dream that they forget the most basic question: Who is hiring us? It’s a silly setup, but it works because, let’s be honest, people do weird stuff when they’re desperate for a break. Watching them scramble around town in search of this phantom studio is a bit like watching someone try to find their keys while they're already holding them.
There’s this one scene where they are just talking over each other for so long that I started to wonder if the sound guy had just gone to the bathroom. It’s chaotic. It’s loud. It feels like a real conversation, if that conversation were happening in a wind tunnel.
It’s not as polished as Lady Windermere's Fan, but it’s got a different kind of heartbeat. It’s less about the drama and more about the sheer desperation of trying to be someone in a town that doesn't care if you exist. Sometimes it reminds me of the aimless wandering you see in Vacation Time, just with more crying and cheaper hats.
The movie ends abruptly. Like, really abruptly. It’s almost like the film ran out of money mid-sentence, which, given the era, is probably exactly what happened. 😅
Don’t go in expecting a masterpiece. Go in expecting to watch people bumble through a dream. It’s not great, but it’s human in all the wrong ways. Maybe that’s enough.

IMDb —
1917
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